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Library » Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta » Ādi-līlā » CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CC Ādi 16.32

Bengali

ব্যাকরণ–মধ্যে, জানি, পড়াহ কলাপ ।
শুনিলুঁ ফাঁকিতে তোমার শিষ্যের সংলাপ ॥ ৩২ ॥

Text

vyākaraṇa-madhye, jāni, paḍāha kalāpa
śuniluṅ phāṅkite tomāra śiṣyera saṁlāpa

Synonyms

vyākaraṇa-madhye — among grammars; jāni — I understand; paḍāha — You teach; kalāpa — the Kalāpa-vyākaraṇa; śuniluṅ — I have heard; phāṅkite — in deceitful word jugglery; tomāra — Your; śiṣyera — of the disciples; saṁlāpa — the specific knowledge.

Translation

“I understand that You teach Kalāpa-vyākaraṇa. I have heard that Your students are very expert in the word jugglery of this grammar.”

Purport

There are many schools of grammar in the Sanskrit language, the most famous of which are the systems of Pāṇini and the Kalāpa and Kaumudī grammars. There were different branches of grammatical knowledge, and a student of grammar was supposed to study them all in twelve years. Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who was famous as Nimāi Paṇḍita, taught grammar to His students, who became expert in dealing with the word jugglery of complicated grammar. Almost anyone expert in studying grammar interprets the śāstras in many ways by changing the root meanings of their words. A student of grammar can sometimes completely change the meaning of a sentence by juggling grammatical rules. Keśava Kāśmīrī indirectly taunted Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu by implying that although He was a great teacher of grammar, such grammatical jugglery of root meanings did not require great expertise. This was a challenge to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Because it was prearranged that Keśava Kāśmīrī would have to discuss the śāstras with Nimāi Paṇḍita, from the very beginning he wanted to bluff the Lord. Thus the Lord replied as follows.